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Manchester City v Sunderland
Etihad Stadium, City of Manchester

Wednesday 12 February 2014
Kickoff: 1945 GMT

Referee: Lee Probert
Assistants: G Beswick & A Garratt
Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor

TV Coverage in UK: No LIVE Coverage

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This has got to be the worst scheduled game of the season (for us) ... it's mid-week (Wednesday) ... in 2.5 days we have to play Chelsea in a knock-out game (FA Cup - Fifth Round, just to get to Quarter Finals, no pressure) ... who by the way play a day earlier (Tuesday) so would be rested an extra day, and then don't have a mid-week game to worry about as their Champions League game isn't till a whole week later than us ... so they'll field what the strongest possible XI and we on the other hand ... oh, well haven't even mentioned the biggest game of our season so far (yes, the Barca home-leg) which will be another 2.5 odd days after that one ...

How does those two fixtures make this one the worst (timing wise and selection headache wise) ... ?? Well, let's talk about the previous two games then ... need I say anymore? This is an absolute absolute must win for us ... given where we could be six clear of Chelsea are now two behind ... and by the time we play this, we probably will be five behind them ...

So two future fixtures and two previous fixtures ... how about injuries (and potential suspensions) ... Aguero: OUT, Nasri: OUT, Fernandhinio: OUT, Yaya: OUT (just wait till tomorrow, the suspension is coming), Negredo: HALF FIT, carrying shoulder knock, Dzeko: HALF FIT, carrying ankle knock ... even fucking Garcia is OUT ...

This is how we'll line up if the gaffer is still harboring any thoughts of a revenge against Mourinhio in the FA Cup tie ... and wants to continue in that Cup ...

Hart
Richards - Komps - Lescott - Clichy
Rodwell - Demi
Milner - Jovetic - Silva
Dzeko

And if he is going to sacrifice that FA Cup game ... then expect Richards and Dzeko and Rodwell to play in that and Zaba and Negredo to play this one ...

Our huge huge problem is Ferdy out and Yaya possibly out with suspension looming (if all the media is to be believed, Match of the Day last night, Match of the Day Extra this morning, Sunday Supplement this morning, Goals on Sunday this morning and all the newspapers all fucking every single one of them is asking for it) ...

Who will play ahead of the back four? Rodwell-Demi? Garcia is still out, may come in for Chelsea game but not for this one yet ... Milner-Rodwell? Milner-Demi? I can't get my head around this one ...

Should we drop any sort of points here ... then the league is gone (considering our tough away fixture remaining) ... FA Cup and Champions League both have the potential of being gone this coming week as well (given our injuries, unless Pellegrini can pull out Aguero, Ferdy and Nasri all out of his magic hat) ... and should we find ourselves out of three, then that Wembley final is a lottery too ... ha, so much for the quadruple ...

That above is the worst case scenario btw ... best case scenario of course (and I am hoping is the case) is we'll crush Sunderland at home, kick Chelsea out of the FA Cup and surprise surprise both Aguero and Ferdy return for Barca and we'll be all happy and fine and going full throttle on all four fronts ...

Score Prediction: Fuck that, just give me 3 points please, any fucking way they come ...

Me and jono1978 have decided to go and sort this mini-crisis ourselves and will be in attendance this Wednesday :)

No idea who will lineup aside from Hart and the back 4. If Pellegrini prioritizes the league over the FA cup then he will use a strong lineup

Have to prioritise this and barca. Sunderland will make it difficult for us, they will come to make an impression knowing if they can beat us at the etihad it will give them a massive advantage going into the final. Play a second team v Chelsea and just try to keep the scoreline to a minimum, the FA cup can wait ill next year if needs be.

Not buying anyone in January has really fucked us over.

Our biggest game this season will be League cup final. Unless we have all players fit and raring to go Barca will beat us over two legs. Not necessarily by much but we will go out. Not to say the Champs league this year hasn't been a success. We've exorcised a lot of demons and showed we can do it.

As such the priority has to be the League cup as we are in final in a one off game against a very beatable team and a pot is a pot.

There are 13 games left in Prem and win 11 and we are champs again imo. This is obviously on a take each game at a time basis, but it is doable. We've just come off a long unbeaten run and can do it again.

The FA cup game, for me, is the last priority. I'd rest a few players and if we get beat, we get beat. You can't win them all and i'd have this low down on priorities.

nottsblue wrote:Our biggest game this season will be League cup final. Unless we have all players fit and raring to go Barca will beat us over two legs. Not necessarily by much but we will go out. Not to say the Champs league this year hasn't been a success. We've exorcised a lot of demons and showed we can do it. As such the priority has to be the League cup as we are in final in a one off game against a very beatable team and a pot is a pot. There are 13 games left in Prem and win 11 and we are champs again imo. This is obviously on a take each game at a time basis, but it is doable. We've just come off a long unbeaten run and can do it again. The FA cup game, for me, is the last priority. I'd rest a few players and if we get beat, we get beat. You can't win them all and i'd have this low down on priorities.

That's pretty much it.

Hutch's Shoulder wrote:

nottsblue wrote:Our biggest game this season will be League cup final. Unless we have all players fit and raring to go Barca will beat us over two legs. Not necessarily by much but we will go out. Not to say the Champs league this year hasn't been a success. We've exorcised a lot of demons and showed we can do it. As such the priority has to be the League cup as we are in final in a one off game against a very beatable team and a pot is a pot. There are 13 games left in Prem and win 11 and we are champs again imo. This is obviously on a take each game at a time basis, but it is doable. We've just come off a long unbeaten run and can do it again. The FA cup game, for me, is the last priority. I'd rest a few players and if we get beat, we get beat. You can't win them all and i'd have this low down on priorities.

That's pretty much it.

Yes I'd agree - I think winning a pot is key and the league cup final is a priority and the FA Cup should be treated as seriously as it can be under the circumstances, but circumstances which dictate it's last out of the 4 - League Cup, premier league, champs league and FA Cup .

As for Yaya's misdemeanour, how will it work, will he have some time to appeal meaning he can be available for sunderland? How long is he facing if charged?

Spurge wrote:As for Yaya's misdemeanour, how will it work, will he have some time to appeal meaning he can be available for sunderland? How long is he facing if charged?

i hope he appeals regardless, is able to play vs Sunderland. and if he gets a 3 match ban then he'll miss Stoke-Villa-Hull, and by that time Fern and, gulp, Garcia should be back. so, id rather have him available now when we're short-handed and miss when we're hopefully back closer to full strength.

but i dunno if this is possible as i dont know how the appeals process works.

Spurge wrote: Yes I'd agree - I think winning a pot is key and the league cup final is a priority and the FA Cup should be treated as seriously as it can be under the circumstances, but circumstances which dictate it's last out of the 4 - League Cup, premier league, champs league and FA Cup . As for Yaya's misdemeanour, how will it work, will he have some time to appeal meaning he can be available for sunderland? How long is he facing if charged?

Yaya will be banned for 3 games which includes Chelsea in the cup. He could appeal and still play against sunderland but a failed appeal could mean a four game ban. If he does get punished then I can't see an appeal. He will miss sunderland Chelsea and Stoke. That lad from Newcastle that butchered Nasri which put him out for 2 months did not receive any ban at all.

Sunderland

Hart
Zaba - Komps - Lescott - Clichy
Milner - Demi
Navas - Jovetic - Silva
Negredo

Chelsea

Panti
Richards - Lescott - Nasti - Kola
Garcia - Demi
Milner - Jovetic - Silva
Dzeko

Barcelona
(If all fit and back)

Hart
Zaba - Komps - Demi - Clichy
Nasri - Yaya - Ferdy - Silva
Negredo - Aguero

Barcelona
(If the three Aguero/Ferdy/Nasri remain out)

Hart
Zaba - Komps - Lescott - Kola
Garcia - Yaya - Demi
Navas - Silva
Negredo

Yaya plays on. No ban. Pellegrini pretty well said he'd play a weakened team in the Cup and Mourinho will play a full strength team so we'll be very fortunate to survive. Same goes for the Barca ties. We absolutely need our strongest team for them and we're not going to have it. We really should win the League Cup so for now we need to put all our eggs in the race for the Premiership. It'll be ugly to lose to Mourinho after the way he's been behaving but barring an heroic effort we'll just have to suck it up.

Do we really think he will play a weakended team for Sat. Mind games in reverse me thinks. The press don't need any more excuses to claim were falling away, lost the plot etc

Personally, I would rather we went balls out to put Chelsea out of the cup as with the best will in the world we will not win the CL with our current squad, next year with the right signings we may.

Also, get through on Sat and there's only one other big dog remaining.

Above all else, win on Wed

Not everyone will agree, but this is just my opinion

We have to play a weakened side against chelski we have no choice. Going out of the cup won't do our league chances any harm. Just have to play weak side and give them a good kicking! Lol.

Well no ban for YaYa so expect him to play Wed. After the last two league results we need this winMaccams on a bit of a high so tough game me thinks . Let's just win this one and worry about moureens mob when it comes. Although I would luv us to shut the horrible cNut. Up :)

Well no ban for YaYa so expect him to play Wed. After the last two league results we need this winMaccams on a bit of a high so tough game me thinks . Let's just win this one and worry about moureens mob when it comes. Although I would luv us to shut the horrible cNut. Up :)

carolina-blue wrote:Well no ban for YaYa so expect him to play Wed. After the last two league results we need this winMaccams on a bit of a high so tough game me thinks . Let's just win this one and worry about moureens mob when it comes. Although I would luv us to shut the horrible cNut. Up :)

I think he will put his strongest team out, and then will do the same again on Saturday and Tuesday.
Clearly on Wednesday we must win and so I think he will start with a team that gives him the best chance of wrapping the game up in an hour.
For Saturday I just can't see him wanting to give Mourinho any prospect of an easy game; not just because of getting knocked out but also the psychological damage that could follow.
And for Tuesday..... well it's the sort of game I'd only dream about in the past and I can't believe any of the players would want to miss this one.

sheblue wrote:We have to play a weakened side against chelski we have no choice. Going out of the cup won't do our league chances any harm. Just have to play weak side and give them a good kicking! Lol.

That's what Ferguson would do if he was in our position.

Saw this on twitter.

God, we're lucky to have him.

Most goals+assists per 90 mins this season (30+): Aguero 1.64 - Messi 1.56 - Ibrahimovic 1.44 - Ronaldo 1.40 - Suarez 1.34 [via @barcastat]

I miss the little Argentine bastard. He's currently the most prolific forward in the world. That's how good he is.

AG7 wrote:
Barcelona
(If all fit and back)

Hart
Zaba - Komps - Demi - Clichy
Nasri - Yaya - Ferdy - Silva
Negredo - Aguero

Negredo

If Nasri is fit, having Kolorov makes sense, Kolo overlap with Nasri has been really good this season.
Hoping to see fit Nasri and Ferna atleast for Barca.

Pellegrini had better put out his best squad tomorrow and, if it wasnt before (which it probably was), this is a must win. All 3 points.

Saul Goodman wrote:Pellegrini had better put out his best squad tomorrow and, if it wasnt before (which it probably was), this is a must win. All 3 points.

best side tomorrow, second best side for sat, best side for barca.